Russian troops will never be moved into Crimea: Putin

(QHA) -

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the possibility of Russia moving troops into Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region.

"This doesn't mean at all that we are going to brandish the sword and move our troops somewhere. That's complete rubbish. Nothing of the kind is the case or can be," Putin told a news conference in Moscow on Thursday when asked whether Russia might move troops into Crimea.

He said the current situation in Crimea has nothing in common with the August 2008 state of affairs in South Ossetia when Russian forces moved in to fight the Georgian attack on the region.

"You compared the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the situation in Crimea. I don't believe it is a fair comparison to make" Putin said.

As reported earlier, Sevastopol deputy Sergey Smoljaninov has sent a letter to Vladimir Putin asking him to intervene in the current social and political situation in Ukraine.

Note: The Russia–Georgia War of 2008 (also known as the 2008 South Ossetia War, Five-Day War or August War) was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and the separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other.